Fig 3, Parker, C, The Distance
Similar to the idea of boundaries is concealment. Sculpture artist Judith Scott had Down syndrome and was severely deaf; she used yarn, wool, and other fibres, which may suggest a way of communicating to the public themes of loss, separations, relationships and new beginnings. Her practice consisted of abstract cocoons whereby objects are wrapped up in colourful threads, from crimson red, blues, cream, purple and black. Seeking a way of coping we could appreciate the work as an act of comfort, to bound secrets with recurring knots via the process rather than language. ‘She would wrap thread and yarn around anything she could get her hands on’. (Textile Artist, 2016-last update). …show more content…
For this sole exhibition was based on the ‘French Relief Society’, Duchamp made an installation constructed from an economical material, this being string. Buying sixteen miles of the material he only ended up using one mile. The string weaved between paintings, it “filled the space of an entire room and was specifically intended to obstruct and frustrate a visitor’s movement”, (Academia, 2016) acting as a barrier when it came to the public viewing the work. We could question string being a measurement of distance or a journey. “The string has a movement of its own”, (Adamson, G, 2010) the public could use the thread as a device to find their way around the gallery, to guide them to each painting. The infinitive quality of the material demands a simplistic correlation towards other mediums, such as a pencil. Having similar qualities to a drawing but is simply transformed into a drawing in space. A pencil can creates straight lines, curves, and can overlap at any time, the same has been shown by Duchamp via …show more content…
Its flexibility, strength and infinite variation of possibilities suggests a greater potential to the idea of the limitless than other materials. In art galleries string has this role of importunacy whereby we are forced to keep a distance from artworks. We follow this rule without hesitation. Contradicting this idea of the boundary, Duchamp engaged his viewers by means of blocking entrances with the only way to get to the artworks would be to break the rules. ‘Forced viewers to look through the string or move it aside to see the works of art in the exhibition’ (Academia, 2016). Viewers would have to step over the string and bend underneath. It could in fact cause an obstruction with the criss-crossing of lines over the canvases, it starts to block out elements of the paintings. Unable to get to the artworks as easily disrupts the focus point, leading to confusion, and viewers feeling effects of isolation and